


none of us can choose our destiny (and none of us can escape it)

by bellarkekru



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Bellamy Blake as Arthur, Blood and Violence, Clarke Griffin as Merlin, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Bellamy Blake, Protective Clarke Griffin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:21:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25302274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellarkekru/pseuds/bellarkekru
Summary: Clarke Griffin was born into a world where practising magic has been decreed by the king to be punishable by death and death alone. The bad thing about that? She's the most powerful witch this world will ever live to see; Wanheda. The worst thing? She's about to become maid to the prince whose father decreed that rule. Clarke is living closer to the royal family than she's ever been before, also meaning she is in more danger than she's ever been in before. What will the prince do when he finds out?Bellamy Blake was born into a world where he was told magic was responsible for the death of his mother and therefore was taught to hate it. Still, a small part of him thinks there is more to it than meets the eye but his doubt is always quickly shut down by his father; the king. When a young, yet infuriating, girl appears in his life, will she change the way he thinks? Or will it lead to the execution of yet another?
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 31
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me in the middle of the night and it's been stuck ever since so here I am writing it. I really hope I can do it justice but if you ever feel that I'm not please feel free to leave me feedback so I can make it more enjoyable. You don't need to have watched Merlin to understand this fic but it would make it a lot easier.
> 
> To help alleviate any confusion this is a list of who each character is meant to be but note that I'll be writing them a lot different than they are in the show.
> 
> Clarke (Merlin)  
> Bellamy (Arthur)  
> Octavia (Morgana)  
> Raven (Gwen)  
> Kane (King Uther)  
> Abby (Hunith)  
> Gauis will just be Gauis as I cannot find another character I love enough to play him.

"Mum!" Clarke called out, walking into the house she lived in with her mother. It was small but nevertheless, it was all they needed. For, after all, it was only the two of them now. "I got the-" The words caught in her mouth as she saw her mother knelt on the ground packing her belongings into a bag.

"Mum?" her voice shook, this time calling out to her mum in question.

"Hunnie, I'm so sorry," Abby said from her place on the ground, not even looking at Clarke as she continued to shove items into the bag.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" To that, Abby didn't respond or even spare a glance Clarke's way to show that she'd heard her. She simply continued on with the task ahead of her. Like no one had uttered a word. Clarke, feeling her blood begin to boil in anger, marched the rest of the way across the room until she was right beside her mum and crouched down to join her.

"Mum!" She called out, her tone now dripping with anger causing Abby to wince when she heard it. "Mum look at me!" And finally, Abby did, guilt and sorrow drew over her face. 

"Clarke," Abby began, voice sombre. Clarke recognised it as the same voice Abby used when she'd told her the news of her father. "You're going to Camelot."

Clarke visibly paled at those words. "W-what?" She stuttered praying she'd misheard.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way." She hadn't. Her mother was really and truly sending her to Arkadia. A place where her kin were found and executed. A place where she would also likely be found and executed. She couldn't for the life of her understand why her mother would send her there. "But you'll be safer there."

"Safer?" Clarke's voice rose in confusion. "If anything, I'll be in _more_ danger."

"Clarke, believe me when I say Camelot is the safest place for you right now. I can-" Clarke moved to interrupt before Abby shushed her. "please let me explain before you interrupt. We don't have much time."

 _Much time?_ Clarke questioned internally, unclear on why they were on a limit for time but as requested stayed silent, motioning for Abby to talk. "Explain then."

"Your powers are growing strong, as I'm sure you already know, and after last week’s mishap-"

"I told you that was an accident! I promise it won't happen again!" Clarke interrupted desperately, despite being told merely seconds earlier not to. "I swear I'll be more careful, just please don't make me leave." She begged. Being forced to go to Arkadia was one of Clarke's most reoccurring nightmares. The most reoccurring one being her execution. Clarke didn't want anything to do with that place. It's only ever brought her pain.

"I don't want this any more than you," Abby said apologetically. Clarke felt her heart drop to her stomach. _She's already made up her mind._ "But nothing is going to happen to you in Camelot, Clarke, I promise. My brother, Gauis, he can help you learn to control your powers and he'll protect you."

"Your brother?" Clarke was stunned, her mother had never said anything about a brother let alone one that lived _t_ _here._

"Yes Clarke, a brother. I know you don't have one but I would've thought you'd understand the concept by now." Abby joked, hoping to make the conversation less heavy. Clarke just rolled her eyes and scoffed. _T_ _rust my mother to make a joke out of this._ Clarke didn't find it funny at all. She was terrified. Terrified and now angry. She guessed she should at least thank her mum for giving her a different emotion to focus on.

"You never mentioned you had a brother."

"I'm mentioning it now." Abby shut down before the conversation could go further down that road and stood up, having finished packing the bag. "You must go now, Clarke. And you must at any cost find your uncle. He's the only way you'll remain safe there."

The bag was now in Clarke's arms and before she could realise it, Abby had led her to the door. "I- I'm going to miss you, mum." Clarke croaked, now beginning to tear up as she accepted her fate. She'd never ventured away from this small village in all 18 years of her life and to leave now, well it felt like leaving part of who she was behind.

"I know baby," Abby replied with tears glistening in her eyes, showing more emotion than Clarke had seen from her since her father's death. _You mean execution,_ Clarke's head reminded her bitterly. _Not the time, Clarke. Focus._ She berated herself. "I know," Abby repeated, pulling Clarke into a tight hug. A hug that Clarke warmly welcomed. Her mother and she may not have always seen eye to eye on everything but this might be the last time she'd get to hug her mother for a very long time.

"I love you, mum." Clarke sobbed. This could very well be the last time she ever saw her mother.

The hug lasted a few more moments before Abby pulled away. "I love you too, Clarke. So, so much. Don't ever forget it."

"I won't," Clarke promised. Despite their many arguments, that was one thing Clarke had always been certain of. Her mother loved her. "May we meet again," Clarke spoke her departing words as she moved out the door, leaving the place she called home for the last time.

"We _will_ ." Clarke heard her mother insist, refusing to think of a scenario where they didn't.

She took one more glance back, taking in everything she saw, burning it into her memory. She never wanted to forget what this place, her home, looked like. So, with one more look at her house, her mum and the village she'd lived in for 18 years, Clarke turned and began her journey.

"Think you can kill me, Camelot?" Clarke muttered to herself once she'd well and truly left the village. "Have at it."

* * *

Clarke had been walking for hours before she finally came to a clearing where she could see the castle of Arkadia. At first, it was only an outline but the closer she got the clearer it got until she was right at the gates of Camelot. Or rather at a hill not far from the gates. Clarke looked at the sight before her in awe. Camelot was stunning, she'd give it that. Though seeing as the only place Clarke had really ever been was the village she'd grown up in, there wasn't much she had to compare it to.

"Let this serve as a lesson to all." A booming voice startled Clarke. Clarke looked over to where the voice was coming from and that's when she realised what she'd been about to walk into. "This man, Thomas James Collins, is judged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic. And, according to the laws of Camelot, I, Marcus Kane, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death. I pride myself as a fair and just king, but for the crime of sorcery there is but one sentence I can pass."

 _Fair and just king, my ass._ Clarke scoffed. He was anything but. Marcus Kane was a coward. The only thing that rang true in that statement was that he was in fact, unfortunately, king.

From afar, Clarke watched as the king signalled the man to be beheaded. She took note of this and moments before the axe could deliver the blow, a surge of power rushed through Clarke's body.

_You're going to be just fine. I promise._

The man's eyes frantically searched for the owner of the voice, eventually landing on Clarke.

 _Thank you, Wanheda._ His voice spoke in her mind.

With that, Clarke's eyes flashed gold signalling her use of magic. And before the axe met flesh, the man was already dead. Put out of his misery by Clarke. Clarke gasped, pain spreading through her chest as she felt the life draining from his body. Another person killed. Another innocent life lost, And while Clarke had always known of these executions, there was a different pain that being there and seeing it with her own eyes brought. "In peace may you leave the shore." Clarke whispered. This man at least deserved that much.

"When I came to this land, this kingdom was mired in chaos, but with the people's help magic was driven from the realm. So, I declare a festival to celebrate twenty years since the Great Dragon was captured and Camelot freed from the evil of sorcery. Let the celebrations begin." His speech was rewarded with cheers from the surrounding audience, causing Clarke to feel sick to her stomach. This wasn't anything worth celebrating.

"There is only one evil in this land, Marcus Kane, and it is not magic! It is you!" A different voice rang out in the courtyard this time. A voice that Clarke decided she certainly agreed with. "With your hatred and your ignorance! You killed my son! But I promise you, before these celebrations are over, you will share my tears. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son." 

Something about that last line, ‘a son for a son', made Clarke's stomach lurch in circles for a reason unknown to her. But she shook it off, turning her attention back to what mattered in that moment.

For a split second Clarke saw a look of fear on the king's face before he recovered, masking it with disgust and anger. "Seize her!" Clarke's heart stopped when she heard those words, willing the women to run. She couldn't bear another death of one of her own. And as though the women had heard her, before the guards could reach her, she disappeared in a whirl of wind and smoke. Clarke let out the breath she'd been holding in relief.

"Last chance to turn back now." Clarke jumped, hearing yet another voice speaking, except this time it was coming from beside her.

Looking around to find the owner of the voice, her eyes landed on a buff, tan man sitting at a tree. She'd thought Arkadia was stunning but this man- this man with his curly unruly hair, tan skin, freckles and muscles - he was gorgeous! "Or not. Looks like you've found something you like well enough to stay." He smirked.

Clarke didn't quite understand what he was alluding to- _Oh!_ The realisation hit her, blood rushing to her already pale cheeks. "Oh, I- so-" Clarke stumbled with her words, as she realised how strange she must've looked like.

"Relax." The man chuckled, his voice so damn deep! Could he be any less attractive? _No, stop! Focus Clarke._ "Seriously though, are you alright?" No hint of humour left in his voice, leaving Clarke confused. Why wouldn't she be alright? He seemed to have seen the confusion as he gestured to her face.

Reaching up to touch her face, Clarke felt it damp. She hadn't even noticed that she'd started crying while watching that scene unfold before her. "Oh yeah- um of course." Clarke tried to reassure him as she wiped the tears from her face.

She knew she'd failed when he answered in a voice full of genuine concern. "Really? Because to me, it doesn't look like it." His concern shocked her, he didn't even know her and yet he cared more than most people in her life.

And something about that caused her to be honest with him. "No, I'm not."

"Want to talk about it?" There came the concern again.

"It's just all of that," Clarke gestured behind her to the courtyard. "I- it hit a little close to home, bringing up memories I would rather not relive." She finished, surprised that she'd been honest with him, a man she'd only just met and whose name she didn’t even know.

"I get that. I mean that's why I'm out here myself. I would rather not be there to bear witness to- to," he struggled to find the right word, " _that_." He spoke with sadness tinging his words and for some reason, her heart ached for him. The same ache she felt earlier when hearing the women's threats to the king. It confused her. They stood in silence for a moment, allowing the vulnerability of what they'd admitted to each other to sink in.

When the silence had drawn on for too long, Clarke decided to be the one to break it. "So, Mr I-creep-up-on-girls-when-they're-not-looking, do you have a name?"

That earned her a chuckle from this mystery man and without even realising it, it made a smile paint itself on her face too. "Bellamy Blake." He- Bellamy introduced himself. "What about you Miss I-stare-at-men-who-creep-up-on-me-for-long-periods-of-time, what's yours?" 

Clarke felt her cheeks begin to burn up again but she knew she deserved that one. "Clarke. Clarke Griffin."

"Well Clarke Griffin, need help finding where you're going?" Bellamy offered, clearly trying to find a way to spend more time with her unbeknownst to Clarke.

"I'd like that." Clarke's smile, if possible, grew even larger.

After asking where she was heading, Bellamy led her to Jackson's quarters. On the way there she asked questions about this uncle of hers, she'd heard absolutely nothing about. In the short walk to the castle, Clarke had found out that one, he lived IN the castle and she wasn't sure if that were good or bad for her. Two, he was the court physician and had been for a long time. And three, he only had one bed in his quarters. Guess she'd be sleeping on the ground.

A few more minutes later, Bellamy came to a stop in front of a door. "We're here." He gestured to the room.

"Thank you, Bellamy," Clarke said, a bit sad that their time together had come to an end. 

"It's nothing." He smiled. Clarke knew one thing for sure, at the end of this day she'll have memorised that smile with hopes to never forget it.

"No really, it means a lot."

"Your welcome Clarke." Bellamy said, beginning to walk off but before he did he turned to look at her once more, "See you later?" He sounded hopeful. And Clarke couldn't deny her want to see him again as well.

"Sure!" She replied a little too eagerly, which he just chuckled at.

"Alright." He said before really walking off this time, leaving Clarke stood there smiling until she turned to the door and knocked.

She waited a moment for an answer but none came. She tried again. No answer. For a second the thought that Bellamy brought her to the wrong place on purpose swam through her head before she quickly squished it. Clarke hadn't known Bellamy very long - not long at all - but she just knew he would never do that.

When Clarke became frustrated with waiting, she decided to venture in. "Hello?" She called out when she saw a figure standing high up on the stairs at a bookshelf. "Gauis?"

The figure jumped, tripping over backwards from the bookshelf stairs and just as the railing started to break and he began to fall to what could've been his death, Clarke's eyes glowed, slowing down time just enough to magically sweep a mattress under the man - Gauis she assumes - before he hits the floor.

"What did you just do?" He yelled from the bed he'd just landed on. _Fuck!_ Clarke swears internally. Maybe he wasn't as accepting as her mother thought he was.

"Um..." Clarke trails off, struggling to come up with a reasonable explanation for it all that didn't refer to magic.

"Tell me!" Gauis demands, now standing up again. The action caused Clarke to step back warily.

"I have no idea what happened." She silently swore again. There was no way he would believe her.

"If anyone had seen that-" He begins before Clarke cuts him off.

"Um, no! That-that was-that was nothing to do with me. That was..." She couldn't think of what to tell him especially when her heart was beating rapidly and her mind was spinning with scenarios of what would happen to her is she was found. Many different things could happen but they all had one common factor; death. Clarke shivered at the thought.

"I know what it was! I just want to know where you learned how to do it!" Clarke didn't think she'd be getting out of this one.

"Nowhere." She told him plain and simply, hoping he'd believe it. It was after all the truth.

"So how is it you know magic?" Gaius questions, clearly not believing her lies.

"I don't." Clarke still tries insisting.

"Where did you study? Answer me!" He was scaring her now. One word to the guards standing outside and she'd be as good as dead.

"I-I've never studied magic or- or been taught." Since the lying approach wasn't working, Clarke decided to tell the truth.

"Are you lying to me?" Gaius asked, suspicion written all over his voice.

"What do you want me to say?" Clarke was at a loss here.

"The truth!" She was telling the truth!

"I was born like this!"

"That's impossible! Who are you?" He asks yet another question.

"Oh, right!" Clarke had been so caught up in not getting killed she'd forgotten to give him the note her mother had sent with her, with explicit instructions to give it to Gauis when she met him. She reaches into her bag and pulls it out. "I have this letter."

"I don't have my glasses," Gaius explains, taking the letter anyway.

"I'm Clarke." She tries.

"Abby's daughter?" He realised, not sounding so angry or sceptical anymore.

"Yes!" Clarke huffed in relief. 

"But you're not meant to be here till Wednesday!" Gauis exclaims, confused as to why she was here early.

"Um, it is Wednesday?" A bit wary of how he'd take that, Clarke holds her breath.

"Ah. Right, then. You better put your bag in there." Once again Clarke lets out a breath of relief but realises there's still something she has to do.

"You-you won't say anything about..." Clarke doesn't say what she's talking about but she knows he understands.

"No." He confirms, suddenly making Clarke feel like she can breathe again as she turns to leave the room, eager to see the city. "Although, Clarke?" Gauis' voice calls after her just as she was about to leave. "I should say thank you."

Clarke smiles, "Of course." And with that, she left the room headed to explore.

Little did Clarke know that the letter she’d handed to Gauis held the answer to everything she'd ever feared about her father’s death. Clarke had always thought there was more to the story of the execution of her father but every time Clarke brought it up Abby shut it down, making her feel stupid for even thinking such thing. Until eventually, she stopped voicing her doubts and pushed them deep to the back of her mind.

Inside as Gauis read the letter he’d received from his sister, his stomach began to knot with guilt at the realisation of what Abby wanted of him. She’d not so subtly asked him to keep quiet about the true circumstances of her father’s death.

_My dear Gauis,_

_I turn to you for I feel lost and alone and don't know who to trust. It is every mother's wish that her child be special, and yet I would give my life that Clarke were not. Ours is a small village and she is so clearly at odds with people here that, if she were to remain, I fear what would become of her. I fear that her father's fate would become her own. And if she were to find out the true circumstances of his death, which by staying here she would, I fear that she would allow it to harden her heart. She needs a hand to hold, a voice to guide and someone that might help her find a purpose for her gifts. I beg of you, if you understand a mother's love for her daughter, keep her safe, and may God save you both._

_With all my love,_

_Abby._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise more characters will be introduced and there will be much more bellarke interactions as the story goes on but I had to set the foundation of the story first. please let me know if I should continue this and/or leave any feedback! :)


	2. Chapter 2

"Bellamy! Octavia!" Bellamy hears the familiar voice of his father, pulling him away from his thoughts of a particular blonde girl.

"Yes?" Octavia answers for the both of them.

"Why are you not joining us at the feast?" Kane questions them as if the answer weren't so obvious. To him it mustn't have been, seeing as he thought it a good idea for these celebrations to begin with.

"Forgive me if I hardly think chopping someone's head off is cause for celebration." Bellamy finds himself answering this time, with a gruff voice. They seemed to have this conversation every time and yet it always had the same outcome. He was tired of it. 

"You'd do well to watch your tongue young man!" Kane berated, clearly not impressed at the tone he was being spoken to with.

"Just think of that poor mother. Don't you have any sympathy for her? These celebrations will only pour salt into an already fresh wound." Octavia tries a different approach by appealing to his emotions. Bellamy internally laughed at that. It was a good try but this man, his father, he was cold-hearted and closed off, even to his own children, he didn't let his emotions guide him. That was if he even had any.

"It was simple justice for what he'd done." His father replied as if it was just that simple to him. Which it was. He saw everything as black and white. Just because one who practised magic was evil then all the rest of them had to be as well. Bellamy never understood that logic. It was like saying if one who wields a sword is bad then all the rest must be too.

"Justice for what?" Bellamy seethed, trying to control his anger. He didn't particularly like magic or condone the use of it either but he wouldn't go as far as to execute people and then throw a party for it. That was _too_ far. "He practised some magic, he didn't hurt anyone."

"You were not around twenty years ago, you have no idea what it was like!" Kane yells, causing Octavia to jump back in surprise. Bellamy immediately stepped in front of her, shielding her from receiving the brunt of his anger. 

"You said it yourself, that was twenty years ago." Bellamy said in a calmer tone, trying a reasoning approach instead. "How long are you going to keep punishing people for what happened then? There are other methods you can take to rid Arkadia of magic, none of which include executions or celebrations of such methods."

Kane starts to chuckle, confusing Bellamy. "Son, what I would give to be as young and naive as you. It's just not as simple as you think and until they realise there is no room for magic in my kingdom, I won't relent. You'll understand it one day. But for now, you will be with me when I greet Lady Helen. The both of you."

"We already told you! We want no part in these celebrations!" Bellamy retorted, anger coming flooding back. Why was he so damn stubborn?

"I'm your father and your king! I expect you to do as I ask. " Kane demands as he turned to leave the room knowing there was nothing left they could say or do to get out of this and knowing they knew that too.

"You know, the more brutal you are, the more enemies you will create!" Octavia yells, emerging from behind Bellamy in fury. And if Kane heard her he pretended not to, continuing his walk until he was out of sight. "He is so infuriating!'

Bellamy chuckle at his sister for a moment before reprimanding her. "He is still our father Octavia and unfortunately that means we must do exactly as he says."

"I know." Octavia sighs, "But it doesn't mean I like it."

"Trust me O, I don't either." Bellamy agrees sombrely. 

"One day, when you become king," Octavia begins, hope returning to her once sad voice, "promise me things will change?"

Bellamy hates to think of the fact one day all of Arkadia will be his responsibility. It seems too much to bear. Too much for one person to carry all on their shoulders. But it also gives Bellamy hope for a better future. A future where he can do better for his people. All of them. "I promise, O. Things will be better. I will do better. For all of us."

Octavia beams at him proudly and if he didn't already want to do better, that alone would've convinced him. He'd do anything to see her looking at him like that. "I have every faith you will, Bell. You have a good heart." Bellamy's heart soars knowing that his sister thinks so highly of him but it also scares him to death. Scares him to death because he doesn’t want to disappoint her. 

He already knew where Octavia stood on the topic of magic but he couldn't bring himself to be as accepting as her. Not when magic was the reason his mother was dead. When he becomes king, he knows he won't execute people who practise magic but Bellamy also knows that he won't be able to accept them either. And he also knew that wouldn’t sit well with Octavia. But for now, she thought of him as a good person and he didn’t want to taint that image just yet.

"So, Bell who is this girl you met?" Octavia teased, changing the subject.

"How do you know about her?" Bellamy asked confused, he hadn't said anything to anyone. Well not yet at least. Meeting Clarke had been the highlight of his day and he wasn't about to keep quiet about it. 

"Oh, I don't know maybe by the hung up look you've got on your face." Octavia replies smugly. "This girl must be really special to get you looking that flustered. I need to meet her!"

Bellamy's heart almost explodes at the thought of Octavia meeting this girl he was slowly starting to like. She'd probably never want to speak to him again after Octavia was done with her. "Slow down O, we only just met!"

"Are you sure?" Bellamy nods. "Then tell that to your face Bell." Octavia laughs, clearly having way too much fun with this.

Groaning, Bellamy shoves Octavia playfully. "Shut up."

"Make me." She challenges.

"You should feel lucky that I am needed at training otherwise I'd be taking you up on that offer." Bellamy calls out already half way out the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses." He hears her yell out before he exits the room.

* * *

"Clarke." Clarke jolts awake to the sound of her name being called. She searches the room for the source of the voice but instead her eyes land on an empty but clearly slept in _bed._ Clarke emphasises the word bed in jealousy. She knew it would be wrong of her to take Gauis' bed so when he offered it to her she politely declined. Even as every bone in her body screamed at her not to. Those bones now ache as Clarke lays back down onto her makeshift bed, thinking she'd been imagining the voice.

It wasn't even a minute later when she heard it again. "Clarke." It was a whisper but a distinct one. And it didn't sound like it was coming from this room. It struck Clarke as weird but before she could dwell on it any longer, the door swings open and Jackson comes barging in with a bucket.

"I got you water." Gauis explains when he notices Clarke looking at him. "Um- in case you wanted to wash?"

"Oh! Well thank you!" Clarke says in appreciation because she did in fact need to wash.

"Help yourself to breakfast." He says, gesturing for her to join him at the table which Clarke does almost immediately, not yet knowing what would anger this man.  
  
Clarke is sitting at the table, with a bowl of watery porridge that for Gauis' sake she pretends to like, when she sees him eyeing her in suspicion. She stares back at him in confusion but the silent question is quickly answered when Gauis intentionally knocks the bucket of water, that he'd brought her, off the table. Clarke abruptly stands up, throwing her arm out, as her eyes glow and she feels magic course it's way through her veins, stopping the bucket mid air before it could hit the floor.

She's not so sure how she expects him to react but when Clarke sees him staring at her in shock and hears him gasp, she drops her arm in panic sending the bucket to the ground with a loud thud, all while cursing herself for acting on her reflexes.

"How did you do that?" He demands after a moments silence. "Did you incant a spell in your mind?"  
  
Clarke's at a loss for what to say. She still doesn't understand where he stood in regards to her magic but decides to go with the truth. "I don't know any spells."  
  
"So then what did you do? There must be something." Gauis asks softer this time.  
  
"It just happens." Clarke shrugs nonchalantly, not sure how else to explain it.

Gauis sits there in thought for a moment before he speaks again. "Well, then I guess we better keep you out of trouble." He smiles at her, fondness reaching his eyes. "You can help me until I find some paid work for you. And we also need to figure out your sleeping arrangements."

Clarke eagerly nods when he mentions her sleeping arrangements, already tired of sleeping on the floor.  
  
Gauis passes her a sack with instructions of what to do. "Hollyhock and Feverfew for Lady Percival, and this is for Sir Olwin. He's as blind as a weevil, so warn him not to take it all at once."  
  
"Okay." Clarke says, taking the sack and making her way out, excited to finally have something to do.  
  
"And here." Gauis calls out handing her a plate with a sandwich on it. 

Smiling, Clarke takes the sandwich as her stomach rumbles. "Thank you!" She was beginning to think there was no real food around here.  
  
"Off you go." Gauis dismisses. "And Clarke! I need hardly tell you that the practice of any form of enchantments will get you killed." He reminds her before she leaves.

She nods to show she understands, shutting the door on her way out. She definitely knew where her magic would get her if she was found out, it was a thought that was constantly on her mind. A thought that never left. It was the fate that took her father from her and she'd be damned if she let that same fate take her too.  
  
Clarke continued eating her sandwich as she walked down the Physician's Corridor and through the Square to deliver the medicine. Clarke knocks on the door when she reaches her destination and is met with a squinting old man.  
  
Clarke stood at the door awkwardly staring at him before she remembered what she was there for. "I- um-, I brought you your medicine."  
  
The man - Sir Olwin she remembers - snatches the vile from her hand, pops the cork off and starts drinking it before Clarke has a chance to react.  
  
"Wait! Gauis said don't drink it all at..." She trails off and when she sees he’s already downed it all in one go. "I'm- I'm sure it's fine." Clarke says sheepishly. This is gonna be a piece of cake she reassures herself. As long as she didn't accidentally kill anyone in the process...

* * *

"Where's the target?" Bellamy yelled at the incompetent servant during training, eliciting laughs from all the surrounding knights.  
  
"It's right there, Sir." The boy, whose name he didn't know, answered.  
  
Bellamy scoffed, "Is it not in the sun though?"   
  
'Yes but..." the boy stops to carefully think his next words, "But it's not that bright."  
  
"A bit like you, then?" Bellamy jokes, causing everyone to erupt into laughter once more.  
  
The boy stares at the ground in embarrassment and Bellamy feels a pang in his chest when he notices. "I'll put the target on the other end then, shall I, Sir?"   
  
As the boy does so a knight calls out from behind him, "Teach him a lesson!" The others agree collectively and Bellamy finds it hard to say no.  
  
"This'll teach him." Bellamy tells them, throwing a dagger at the target the boy is now carrying.   
  
"Hey! Hang on!" The servant protests, stumbling back with the target almost dropping it in the process.  
  
"Don't stop!" Bellamy orders when the boy stops walking.  
  
The boy takes a few steps back. "Is here alright?  
  
"I told you to keep moving!" Bellamy yells, throwing another dagger. This would almost be fun to Bellamy if it wasn't at the expense of another. The public see him as an asshole who doesn't care about anyone else but himself and so that's the facade Bellamy tries to keep, never wanting people to know the real him. The only person he can truly be himself with is his sister. And strangely, the girl he'd met just yesterday. Clarke Griffin. "Come on! Run!"  
  
Bellamy watches as the boy shuffles his feet along trying to carry the large target and throws more daggers. "You guys want some moving target practice?"

Before anyone could answer, Bellamy hears the clatter of the target hitting the floor as the boy dropped it. Everyone watches on as it rolls away and Bellamy is just about to bark more orders at him when someone stops the target with their foot. Not just someone, he realises. _Her_. The blonde-haired beauty. "Wells? What are you doing here?" He sees the shock painted on her face and he's not sure if it's only at the boy stood before her or also at Bellamy and his behaviour.

"Clarke!" The boy- Wells he now knows - exclaims, seeming happy to see her, although Clarke doesn't seem to return that excitement. "I heard your mum was sending you here and I-"  
  
Clarke ignores the rest of what he has to say, cutting him off as she turns her attention to Bellamy. "Hey, come on, I think that's enough."  
  
"What?" Bellamy asks, a bit startled that she'd spoken to him.  
  
"You've had your fun, my friend." Clarke reprimands him, eliciting 'oohs' from the crowd that had now gathered. Something about that makes an anger rise in his chest. Who was she to tell him what to do?

And before he can think, he allows his anger to get the best of him "Do I know you?" Bellamy swears internally at his stupidity. _Real smooth Bellamy!_  
  
He sees the shock and disappointment in her crystal blue eyes and he instantly feel even worse. "I'm Clarke." She recovers quickly.  
  
"So I don't know you." Bellamy says as more of a statement than a question, digging the hole he'd made himself even deeper. Too late to go back now. He'd made his bed now he'll have to lay in it.  
  
"No." Clarke speaks in a rock-hard voice, different to the soft one he'd heard yesterday. Though, he couldn't blame her. He knew he was acting like an ass.  
  
"Yet you called me 'friend'." Clarke recoils and he almost wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been paying such close attention to her actions.  
  
"Mm yeah that was my mistake."  
  
Bellamy smirks thinking he'd won, "Yes, I think so."  
  
"Yeah." Clarke agrees and just when he thinks she's about to walk away she speaks again. "I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass." _Now_ she starts walking away, as the crowd begins to laugh.  
  
Bellamy's blood boils and he calls after her, not allowing her the last word. "Or I one who could be so stupid." Clarke stops walking and he smirks when he realises he'd won. "Tell me, Clarke, do you know how to walk on your knees?"

Clarke steps up to him in anger. "No." She simply says. He admires her bravery. But it's that same bravery that could, one day, get her killed.  
  
"Would you like me to help you?" He offers smugly.  
  
Bellamy is startled when Clarke begins to laugh at his offer. "I wouldn't if I were you."  
  
It’s Bellamy’s turn to chuckle now. He likes that she's confident but he is twice her size. There wasn't any way she was beating him. "Why? What are _you_ going to do to _me_?"

Clarke scowls at him before answering. "Oh, you have absolutely _no_ idea." She gets even closer to him as she speaks and something about the way she does rubs him in the wrong way. As if she knew something that he didn't.  
  
"Alright if you're so sure. Be my guest!" He eggs her on. He wasn't going to fight her. No, of course not. But he could make a fool out of her in front of the crowd. "Come on! Come on! Do something!"  
  
Clarke stays staring at him for a moment, trying to read him, to see if this man was really the Bellamy she'd met just yesterday. And he aches to tell her that it wasn't. To apologise but instead he smirks at her and that's when Clarke makes her move. She swings her arm, meaning to punch him but Bellamy could see it coming from a mile away and before she'd even gotten close, Bellamy had her up against him with her arm twisted behind her back.

The crowd gasps, not having expected her to actually swing at him, especially since considering he was the prince. But he gathered from their talk the day before that she did not yet know that.

Bellamy also hears whispers from the knights behind him saying things like 'Whoa that was hot.' or 'I'd let her punch me any day.' and to that Bellamy turns to glare at them all. He watches satisfied when he sees them all cower at his look and stop speaking.

"I'll have you know you'll be thrown in jail for that." Bellamy threatens, turning his attention back to Clarke, feeling her chest heaving underneath his and for a second, he lets his eyes drop to her lips in want.   
  
"Let go of me!" Clarke struggles in his grasp, shaking him out of his trance, causing him to hold on tighter. "I'm serious! Who do you think you are? The King?" Oh, now she was the one who had _no_ idea.  
  
"No." He sees her smirk, thinking she'd won but that smirk is quickly wiped off her face. "I'm his son, Bellamy." Fear washes over her face at the realisation and he feels a need to make it disappear. To make that smile he'd grown so fond of in such a short time, replace it. But alas, as the guards came to drag her to the dungeons, he realised it was too late. And for reason unknown to him, the thought of her alone and scared in the dark, cold dungeons, gave him an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

"Clarke. Clarke." Clarke is startled awake once again by the same voice from earlier but now it was coming from beneath her.  
  
"Clarke." It calls again and now she realises it is louder than it had been in the physician's chambers. She moves closer to the floor of her cell, searching for a clue as to what was-

"Clarke!" This time she knows exactly where it's coming from and whose voice it is. She cringes at the anger in his voice.  
  
Her cell door opens to reveal a furious Gauis. "You never cease to amaze me! The one thing that someone like you should do is keep your head down, and what do you do? You behave like an idiot."  
  
"I'm sorry." Clarke musters all the sincerity she can. She's still bitter over having to have spent the night in a cell, on a floor worse than her already poor sleeping arrangements.   
  
"Yes, well you're lucky. I managed to pull a few strings to get you released." Gauis says sighing.  
  
Clarke jumps to give him a hug. "Thank you! Thank you!" She was more than ready to get out of this dump. Gauis gives Clarke a disapproving look at her excitement but Clarke can't bring it in herself to care. "I won't forget this."  
  
"Well..." Gauis trails off looking sheepish and Clarke instantly groans, "there is a small price to pay."  
  
\--

"You said it was a small price!" Clarke glares at Gauis, well as best as she could while in the stocks. 

Gauis simply laughs, earning another glare from Clarke. "Would you rather spend another night in the dungeons?"

Clarke sighs knowing he was right.

"Well I'm off!" Gauis yells as he sees the children approaching with more fruit and vegetables to pelt at Clarke, not being able to get away quick enough.  
  
"Gee thanks!" Clarke calls after him sarcastically. "What great support you are!"  
  
The children quickly run out of things to throw at Clarke a few moments later and are gone once more to collect more fruits and vegetable from their houses.  
  
"Having fun there, Clarke?" She hears a voice ,she once longed to hear, say. Now she loathes it just as much as she loathes the owner.  
  
"What do you want?" Clarke spits out at him.

She sees Bellamy flinch at the harshness in her words but he'd deserved that and he seemed to know it himself. "Yeah okay, I deserved that one."

"Go away Bellamy." She yells.

"What's wrong, Clarke? Mad you lost?" Bellamy bites back, again letting his anger get the best of him. Clarke is still shocked that this man standing before was the same Bellamy she'd begun to like.

"No idiot." Clarke retorts. "And for the record next time you want to fight, don't go hiding behind daddy's men like a coward."

"Please," he scoffed. "I could take you apart with one blow. But for your sake, I won't."

Clarke laughs at his confidence. "I could take you apart with less than that, asshole."

"You can't address me like that!" He demands, pissed at her smugness and it shocked him to his core. It usually wasn't this easy for him to get so fired up but something about this girl infuriated him.

"Right, I'm sorry!" Clarke apologises and for a moment Bellamy almost believes she is being sincere. "You're an asshole, my lord." She gives the best mock curtsy she can while in her predicament. And before Bellamy has a chance to reply, Clarke sees the children returning with another batch of items to throw at her. "Excuse me, asshole. My fans are waiting."

Bellamy departs knowing a dismissal when he heard one. As he walked away fuming he realises he's in fact not fuming at all but instead smiling. Smiling at the stubbornness of this girl he'd only just met. Smiling at how him being a prince changed nothing in the way she acted towards him. And little did Bellamy know that Clarke herself, although she seemed mad, was feeling the exact same about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said last chapter that more characters will begin to be introduced but there is still some foundation that needs to be laid first. I promise this story will get more interesting as it goes on but for now just bear with me! Hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave feedback!


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you want some vegetables with that?" Gauis sarcastically offers.  
  
Clarke scowls. "Real funny." She groans, still feeling the ache and soreness from the vegetables and fruits she'd been pelted with for all of yesterday's afternoon. "I know you're still angry with me."  
  
"You're right. I am. Your mother asked me to look after you Clarke, and right now you're making that job extremely difficult for me." He says, looking at her pointedly.   
  
"I'm sorry." Clarke fidgets under his gaze, feeling guilty. "I really am."  
  
Gauis sighs, seeing that Clarke truly meant it and changes the topic. "What did your mother say to you about your gifts?"  
  
"Not much." Clarke shrugs. "Just that I was special."  
  
"You _are_ special." Gauis confirms. "To the likes of which I have never, in all my years of living, seen before."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Clarke asks, not understanding how she was any different from any one else who practised magic.  
  
"Well..." Gauis begins, thinking how best to explain this to Clarke. "Magic requires incantations, spells. And can take years to study before ever perfecting just _one_ spell. What I saw you do- it was...elemental, instinctive."  
  
This new information surprises Clarke. Her mother had always said she was special but she never understood just to what extent. Now she was beginning to. "But what's the point if it can't even be used?"  
  
"Truthfully?" Gauis asks. Clarke nods. "I don't know. You are a question that has never been posed before, Clarke."  
  
Sighing, Clarke decides that's the best she'll be able to get. "Did you ever study magic?"  
  
"Kane banned all such work twenty years ago." He replies, so obviously avoiding the question.  
  
But instead of pushing for an answer, Clarke let's it go, now more curious about what happened all those years ago. "Why?"  
  
"Because Clarke, not everyone was like you. People used magic for the wrong end at that time. It threw the natural order into chaos." Clarke's heart hurts hearing those words. For the actions of some, all her people were now suffering as a consequence. It was unfair and unjust. "Kane made it his mission to destroy everything from back then, even the dragons.  
  
"What?" Clarke gasps, not even knowing there was such a thing as a dragon. And now she was hearing that this ruthless king had destroyed them? It made her furious "All of them?"  
  
"All but one." He answers. "There was one dragon he chose not to kill, kept it as an example. He imprisoned it in a cave deep beneath the castle where no one can free it." Hearing that, Clarke's fury replaces itself with a ting of sadness. She couldn't imagine being the last of her kind. She didn't want to imagine it. But it made her ache for the poor dragon. Clarke laughs silently at the oxymoron.

"Now, eat up. When you've finished, I need you to take a preparation to Lady Helen. She needs it for her voice." Gauis instructs, having had enough of meaningful conversations for the day.

Having no choice but to do so, Clarke lets up on the conversation, leaving the chambers. Clarke walks up Spiral Stairway and across the Balcony Corridor until she comes to the Lady Helen's chambers. Clarke knocks and waits for an answer. But when none is given and Clarke notices the door is slightly jarred open, she decides there can't be any harm in letting herself in, right? Wrong. Clarke enters Lady Helen's guest chamber, putting the potion bottle on the vanity table and has every intention of leaving when she notices an effigy and a special book.

Clarke's mind races with hundreds of scenarios on why this woman would possess an effigy, none of them good.   
  
"What are you doing in here?" A voice behind her demands unhappily and Clarke jumps stifling a scream.  
  
"Uhh...I- I-" Clarke fearfully stumbles with her words. "I was asked to deliver this." Clarke turns to pick the potion bottle up from the table, but feels herself still at what she sees. Clarke feels her heart catch in her throat, her eyes stuck on the half-covered mirror revealing Lady Helen's - who was in fact not her at all - reflection. She realises it to be the lady from the courtyard her first day here. The threats she'd spoken now returning to Clarke's head making her feel uneasy. 'A son for a son.' Clarke remembers so vividly. Clarke's finding it hard to breathe now and so before she can completely lose it in front of this lady, she hands her the potions before exiting the room not being able to get out of there quick enough.

* * *

Clarke storms back across the Square, needing to get back to Jackson's chambers before she lets loose. Clearly though, the world had other plans for her.  
  
"How's your knee-walking coming along?" The familiar smug voice of Bellamy calls to her as she walks passed him. Clarke ignores his comment, not in the mood to put up with him when she's literally on the verge of a breakdown. A breakdown she didn't even know why was creeping up on her but tries to play it off of as needing a moment to catch her breath after that close call. Deep down though, she knows that's not it. "Aw, don't run away!"  
  
Clarke abruptly stops, turning to him. "From you?"   
  
"Thank God." He sighs in mock relief. "I thought you were deaf as well as dumb."  
  
"Listen here Bellamy." Clarke growls in anger. "I've told you you're an ass, I just didn't realise you were a royal one."

Thinking she's shut him up, Clarke moves to continue on to Jackson's chambers, but to her surprise he steps in front of her blocking her path. "Brave princess." He smirks.

"Princess?" She yells incredulously. "I'm not the one who’s a royal pain in the ass here!" 

Bellamy simply laughs. "You might as well be with the way you address your prince. Only a princess could get away with that."

"Get out of my way Bellamy." Clarke demands, having had enough of his semantics.

"Or what princess?" He mocks using that stupid nickname again.

Clarke, sick of him underestimating her, acts without thinking. She moves to shove him, looking down as her eyes glow as to not tip him off to her magic abilities and within seconds Clarke's flipped Bellamy onto the ground, pushing the air out of him. Not even second later, Clarke sees guards from every corner rushing to the commotion.

As they reach her, pulling her arms behind her back just as they had done once before, Clarke internally swears at the man before her. _Why must he be so good at getting me fired up that I act without thinking?_

"Wait." Bellamy signals to the guards just as they were about to drag Clarke's ass right back to the dungeons. "Let her go. She may be an idiot, but she's a brave one." Clarke stares at him stunned. She didn't understand Bellamy, one second kind, the next an infuriating asshole.

"There's something about you, Clarke." Bellamy eyes her down, now standing up having recovered from his fall. "I can't quite put my finger on it."

Uncomfortable under his gaze, Clarke storms off before she does something stupid once again. 

And without even realising it, Clarke forgets all about the breakdown she was on the verge of having. The fight with Bellamy, pushed all signs of it away. Something, unknown to Clarke, Bellamy had done on purpose. He'd seen her walking across the square looking pale and breaths uneven. His first instinct had been to reach out comfort her but he quickly decided against that, not so sure she would take very kindly to that considering what an ass he'd been lately. So instead, Bellamy tried distracting her the only other way he knew how. And it had worked.

Bellamy smiles in accomplishment as he watches the young fiery girl storm off into the distance.

* * *

"How could you be so foolish?" Clarke hears the second she enters the room.

Clarke winces. _So, he'd heard._ "He needed to be taught a lesson." She tries to justify.  
  
"Magic must be studied, mastered, and used for good! Not for idiotic pranks!" Gauis yells, furious at her lack of restraint.  
  
"What is there to master? I could move objects like that before I could talk!"  
  
"Then, by now, you should know how to control yourself!"  
  
"I don't want to!" Clarke bursts out, unable to control her anger anymore. Not that she'd been doing a great job of that recently anyway. "If I can't use magic, what have I got?! I'm just a nobody, and I always will be. If I can't use magic, I might as well die."  
  
Gauis looks as though he is about to answer before Clarke beats him to it. "You don't know why I was born like this, do you?" Not even angry anymore. Just sad.   
  
"No." He sighs sadly.  
  
"I'm not a monster, am I?" Clarke considers after a moment.  
  
Looking Clarke in the eye, Gauis shuts that doubt down immediately. "Don't ever think that."  
  
"Then why- please tell me- why am I like this? Please, I need to know why." Clarke asks desperate for an answer. Any answer. She didn't care she just wanted something.  
  
"Maybe there's someone with more knowledge than me." Gauis tells her, not able to give Clarke what she wants.  
  
Clarke sighs in disappointment. "If you can't tell me, no one can."

* * *

"Clarke." The now familiar voice, again, pulls Clarke from her deep sleep. "Clarke."  
  
But instead of brushing it off like the last two times, this time Clarke forces herself out of her makeshift bed, despite her muscles aching in protest and sneaks out of the Physician's Chambers. Clarke huffs a breath of relief when she makes it out without waking Jackson from his slumber. Though she doubted much would wake him up. Jackson was the deepest sleeper she'd ever met and if she was being honest she was envious of him.

"Clarke." She hears the voice louder now as she crosses the Square, descending the stairway she'd become quite accustomed with in her time in the dungeons. Just as Clarke thinks she's in the clear, she catches a glimpse of two guards blocking the entrance. Clarke stifles a groan, _never that simple._ Looking around for another entrance, Clarke comes up with a plan. She watches with a smirk on her face as her eyes glow gold and she send their playing dice flying down the corridor opposite of where she was headed. Clarke almost facepalms at their stupidity as she watches them both leave their posts to chase down the dice. She grabs a torch, lights it, and heads down the Tunnel Stairway.  
  
As she enters the cave the voice is now louder than she's ever heard it. "Clarke." Followed by echoing laughter.   
  
"Where are you?" Clarke yells as she looks around the cave but only coming up with rocks and dead space. She almost gives up thinking this was all a figment of her imagination when a winged beast flies to perch itself in front of her. Gasping, Clarke jumps back almost dropping her torch. Jackson was telling the truth. She stares at the beast- dragon in amazement.   
  
"I'm here." Clarke almost gasps again when it speaks to her. "My, how small you are for such a great destiny."  
  
Clarke glares at the creature when she hears the world small, almost feeling stupid for doing so. "Why? What do you mean? What destiny?" She asks not able to contain the many questions she wants answers to.  
  
"Your gift, Clarke," the dragon says, making her wonder how he even knows who she is, "it was given to you for a reason."  
  
"So there is a reason!" Clarke says, her heart swelling in joy knowing that she had a purpose.  
  
"Bellamy is the Once and Future King who will unite the land of Albion." The dragon tells her, for no apparent reason. Why would she care about what Bellamy is or isn't going to do?  
  
"Right." Clarke mocks, not showing any interest.  
  
"But he faces many threats from friend and foe alike." He continues to explain much to Clarke's annoyance.   
  
"I don't see what this has to do with me." She's starting to feel like coming down here was a waste of her time. And sleep.  
  
"Everything." Clarke finds that hard to believe. It had everything to do with Bellamy and absolutely nothing with her. "Without you, Arthur will never succeed. Without you, there will be no Albion.  
  
"No." Clarke says in denial. There was no way. "No, you've got this wrong."  
  
"There is no right or wrong, only what is and what isn't." The dragon replies. Clarke finds herself annoyed at his philosophy filled answers.  
  
"No I'm serious!" Clarke yells. "If anyone wants to go and kill him, they can go ahead. In fact, I'll give them a hand." Her and Bellamy uniting the land of Albion together? No way. Not when they could barely be in the presence of each other without arguing. Except they could. Clarke's reminded of the first time she met him in the woods. _No,_ she tells herself, _that wasn't the real Bellamy._ But what if it is?  
  
Clarke is pulled out of her thoughts by the amused chuckle of the dragon before her. "None of us can choose our destiny, Clarke, and none of us can escape it."

"I know you know in your heart, what I say is true." He speaks before she had the chance, "It's why you felt that pang in your heart when you heard his safety being threatened." Clarke remembers exactly what he is talking about. 'A son for a son.'  
  
"No." At this point, she knows he is right. But Clarke can't bring herself to accept it. "No way. No. There must be another Bellamy because this one's an asshole."  
  
"Perhaps it's your destiny to change that." And without another word, she hears the rustling of his chains as he flies off, deep into a cave.  
  
"Wait! Wait, stop!" Clarke protests to no avail. "No, I-I need to know more!" But she's only answered with the sound of her voice echoing back at her.

* * *

"Clarke!" Gauis yells as he enters her messy chamber and picks up the clothes she's left lying around.

Clarke is immediately awake groaning. Could she never have just one day where she was woken peacefully?  
  
"Have you seen the state of this room?" Clarke sheepishly looks around at the mess she's made within just 4 days of being here.  
  
"It just happens."  
  
"By magic?" Gauis asks knowingly.   
  
"Yeah." She shrugs.  
  
"Yes. Well, you can clear it up without magic. And then I want you to get me some herbs: henbane, wormwood, and sorrel. And deliver this to Octavia. Poor girl's suffering from nightmares." He barks out orders at her and Clarke groans for the second time that morning.  
  
"Mmm, I know the feeling." She thinks back to last night with the dragon.

* * *

"You know, I've been thinking about Lincoln." Clarke hears the soft voice of a lady who she assumes is Octavia. "I wouldn't touch him with a lance pole. Pass me that dress, will you Raven?"  
  
Clarke, most definitely not Raven, pauses uncertainly before deciding to fetch the dress for Octavia that's spread out across the bed. Clarke takes a moment to stare at her bed in envy. Here Clarke was having to sleep on the floor, while this girl had a king-sized bed all to herself. Pushing her jealousy down, she makes her way back over to the screen where Octavia begins undressing.  
  
"I mean, the man's a total jouster. And just because I'm the King's daughter, that doesn't mean I have to accompany him to the feast, does it?"  
  
Clarke places the silk gown over the side of the screen as she pretends to care about her boy problems.  
  
"Well, does it?" Clarke is at a loss for what to do.  
  
"Mm-Mmm." Clarke pretends to be this Raven girl Octavia so obviously thinks she is.  
  
"If he wants me to go, then he should invite me, and he hasn't." _She so wants him to ask her_ , Clarke laughs internally, before turning her attention back to trying to figure a way out of his situation.  
  
"So do you know what that means?"

"Mm-Mmm." Clarke mumbles  
  
"Where are you?" Octavia demands as she steps out into the open, her gown now on but her face painted with shock as her eyes fall on Clarke. "Who are you? Where's Raven?"

"I- uh-" Clarke rushes to explain herself but come up with nothing.

"Wait a minute." Octavia walks closer to Clarke, studying her appearance. "You're _her._ "

" _Her?_ " Clarke says confused. She'd never met this girl before in her life. "You must be mistaken."

"No you're her. Bellamy's girl!" Octavia squeals in excitement. 

"Excuse me." Clarke seethes. "I'm no one's 'girl'. Especially not Bellamy's."

"Of course." Octavia smirks, making Clarke wonder what exactly she thinks she knows. "Will you be at tonight's feast?"

Before Clarke has a chance to reply, which seems to be happening a lot lately much to her dismay, Octavia beats her to it. "What am I saying? Of course you are! Come," She instructs dragging Clarke to her wardrobe, "we'll get ready together. My brother isn't going to know what hit him." Her smirk returning to her face and for a second Clarke is genuinely scared. 

"Octavia?" A tanned girl walks into the room. "Whose this?"

"Raven, good you're here!" So, this is Raven. "This is Clarke."

"Bellamy's Clarke?" Realisation dawns over the girl's face as Clarke feels her annoyance grow. Why is everyone referring to her as Bellamy's? 

"Yes! We need to make sure he can't keep her eyes off her tonight!" Octavia schemes with Raven and Clarke just stands there watching them in shock.

Raven holds up two gowns. "It's either this little tease..." She gestures to the green one in left hand, a dress that showed little to no cleavage. It was modest. "Or we give him a night he'll really remember..." This time gesturing to a stunning deep blue gown, the opposite of the modest one. This one, showed just the right amount of cleavage and would hug Clarke in all the right places.

Octavia turns to Clarke with a wicked look on her face and straight away knows what she's chosen...

* * *

Clarke feels nervous as she walks into the banquet hall, Octavia and Raven at her side. They'd of course forced her into the deep blue gown, refusing to hear her protests. Now with it on, Clarke must admit it fit her perfectly.  
  
She watches as the attention of Bellamy and his friends is quickly drawn to the approaching group of girls. Not because she wanted to see his reaction or anything, Clarke insists to herself. He was just simply in her line of sight, that's all.

The room falls silent, all eyes landing on them. Clarke can hear the whispers of men around her, most drawn to Octavia's beauty.  
  
"God have mercy." A gruff voice echoes throughout the room. Clarke turn her attention the owner of the voice and is met with Bellamy's eyes transfixed on her. She stares back into his eyes and sees a hint of lust in them, making her breath catch in her throat. His eyes continue to roam all over her body, taking in every inch. Her eyes fall to the growing bulge in his pants. Clarke smirks at how she'd so clearly affected him. Bellamy notices this too and his face turns red as he turns to avoid her look.

"Keep it in your pants big brother." Octavia teases as she walks passed him, clearly have notice their interaction.  
  
The sound of celebratory horns signal King Kane's entrance, breaking Bellamy and Clarke out of their moment as everyone rushes to find their place at the tables.  
  
Kane's voice booms through the hall as he makes he takes his seat at the royal table. "We have enjoyed twenty years of peace and prosperity. It has brought the kingdom and myself many pleasures, but few can compare with the honour of introducing Lady Helen of Mora."  
  
The cheers and applause of the audience makes Clarke feel sick. They really thought magic to be their enemy and it saddened her heart.

As the music begins, Kane and the court take their seats and Lady Helen, who Clarke now knows is Mary, the grieving mother, begins to sing. Clarke knows this lady means to attack, to enact revenge and that she means to target Bellamy. She doesn't yet know by which methods but what she is one hundred percent certain about is that she has to stop it. Has to protect Bellamy. She feels the need to deep in her bones, as if it were her destiny. Which well, it is.

The court members begin nodding off to sleep. Clarke herself begins to feel sleepy and tired, resisting the urge to yawn. Noticing this, Clarke instantly presses her hands over her ears, hoping that'd stop whatever spell the lady was using from working on her. She watches as cobwebs begin forming over the enchanted sleepers. On everyone but her. It's safe to say that it had in fact worked.

Before Clarke has a chance to relax, she notices the impostor staring intently at Bellamy as she walks forward, revealing a dagger from her sleeve. Clarke feels her heart stop, searching the room frantically for a solution. Her eyes land on the chandelier above the women's head and with only one thought running through her mind, that she must save Bellamy at any cost, Clarke’s eyes glow gold as she magically drops the chandelier on her just as she raises her arm to throw the dagger. She’s dead on the impact.

Around Clarke, court members begin to wake and pull the cobwebs off, muttering questions but she pays no attention to the. Her attentions stay stuck to the women’s crumpled form beneath the chandelier. Clarke’s eye’s begin to feel heavy as the realisation at what she’d done hit her. She’d killed someone. One of her own.

Kane and Bellamy stand up to see Mary Collins lying on the floor, coming to the silent conclusion of what had happened.

With her last bit of strength, Mary raises herself, shocking not only Clarke who’d seconds ago thought she were dead but Bellamy and Kane too, up enough to throw the dagger at an unsuspecting Bellamy. Luckily though, Clarke reacts quick, slowing down time enough to reach Bellamy, launching herself at him as she drags him to the floor, pulling him out of harm's way. Their bodies land to the ground with a thud, limbs tangled in one another’s.

Above them, the dagger slices into Bellamy’s chair right where his heart would’ve been. Clarke sighs in relief turning back to check that Bellamy is unscathed.

But when she does so she notices Kane and Bellamy staring at her. It makes her crawl within her skin. Maybe they’d seen her and they’d repay her by sending her to her death? Clarke’s heart begins to race uncontrollably. And apparently Bellamy realises this because he places a comforting hand on her back. Surprisingly, it calms Clarke down.  
  
“You saved my boy's life.” Kane speaks finally. “A debt must be repaid.” Clarke stares at him in shock.   
  
“Uh well...” She awaits the other show to drop.  
  
“Don't be so modest. You shall be rewarded.” It doesn’t. He - the ruthless king who would surely execute her had he know who she was - wanted to reward her.  
  
“No, honestly, you don't have to, Your Highness.” Her politeness causes Bellamy to shoot her a confused look to which she smirks. Because yes Bellamy I can be nice, just not to you.  
  
“No, I insist! This merits something quite special.” Kane says, quite excited about it too.  
  
“Well...” Clarke trails off not about to refuse the offer. If he wanted to reward her, Clarke sure as hell wouldn’t protest.  
  
“You shall be rewarded a position in the royal household. You shall be Prince Bellamy’s maidservant." Kane reveals, thinking he’d done her some huge favour. There it was. The other shoe had dropped.

The crowd cheers at the news and at this point she is beginning to think there’s nothing they won't cheer at.  
  
“Father!” She faintly hears Bellamy yell in protest and that’s the last thing the remembers before her world goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so that's the foundation finally set! And from here on out I'll being following the storyline of Merlin less and less with hopes to make this story different and interesting for everyone. Thank you so much to those of you reading and supporting this story, I really didn't expect this response but I appreciate it greatly!
> 
> Also... what would you guys like to see more; Bellamy staying oblivious to Clarke's magic until the end like in the series or somewhere along the way finding out about it? And should Octavia go down the same dark road as Morgana or should I write her as a good character? Let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so short but I hope to finally be continuing this story because I have so much planned for it! Bare with me, though, I get very lazy and sometimes updates may take a while.

For the 3rd time this week, Clarke was rudely awoken by the mumbling of a voice. This time, though, more than one. She tried to listen in on what was being said but found her efforts were in vain. Her head was pounding too loudly for Clarke to focus on anything. Groaning, Clarke tried to sit up. 

"Woah, woah, woah. What do you think you are doing?" A familiar voice spoke from beside her as they restrained her from getting anywhere. Clarke's eyes fluttered open for the first time since she'd awoken. A figure sat beside her. Bellamy, she realised as her eyes adjusted to the light. And he was looking at her in concern. For whatever reason, Clarke had no idea.

"What-" Clarke croaked out, her throat dry.

Bellamy rose at the sound, saddening Clarke for a moment before he was back with a glass of water in tow. "Here. Water first. Questions next." Bellamy ordered. Too kindly for her liking. Bellamy Blake was a puzzle she had yet to solve. One day kind and caring and everything Clarke wanted in a man and the next a selfish asshole, someone that Clarke wanted nothing to do with.

"Don't tell me you need me to force it down your throat." Bellamy's voice startled Clarke from her train of thought. Clarke could feel the heat rising to her cheeks at the innuendo. "Get your mind out of the gutter, sweetheart. Drink your water."

Clarke gladly obliged, not able to get out of this conversation quick enough.

"Though if you really wanted-" His words were interrupted by Clarke spluttering water all over the place.

Smacking him across the arm, Clarke scowled. "Shutup asshole."

"Real bold of you to be saying while in my bed," Bellamy chuckled. "I might have to be kicking you out for that comment."

It was only then that Clarke realised where she was. Glancing around the room she marvelled at the size. It was bigger than her entire house back home. Her gaze moved to the large dining table, which really was unnecessary for just one person, and then to the huge four-poster bed that she lay on. It was the largest bed she'd ever laid eyes on. The bed that was, in fact, Bellamy's. Clarke immediately moved to get out.

"Hey!" Bellamy grabbed her arm gently, proving to her that men could in fact be gentle. A notion, that unfortunately her life experiences, led to Clarke believing was quite impossible. Usually a touch like that would make her uncomfortable but somehow Bellamy was different. In more ways than just that. "I was only joking. You don't have to leave. In fact, I am ordering you to stay put."

"I can't! This is hardly proper. Your own servant in your bed. If someone were to walk in and get the wrong idea who knows what would happen!"

Bellamy just laughed, much to Clarke's disapproval. "You're such a princess. Plus you're not my servant yet."

"Great! If I'm not your servant yet," Clarke began, "then you can't order me to stay."

"You seem to be forgetting something sweetheart," Bellamy smirked as if he'd already won this argument.

"And what is that exactly?" Clarke asked, desperately wanting to wipe that arrogant smirk off his face despite the way it made her stomach flutter. Clarke internally groaned at her uncontrollable lady desires. This boy would be the death of her.

"I'm still your prince, meaning you do in fact have to do exactly as I say."

"Bellamy!" Clarke whined, completely forgetting about titles but Bellamy found he didn't mind. He liked how his name sounded from her lips.

Bellamy continued chuckling, amused by how easily he could stir her up. "Surely spending time with your beloved prince is not that horrific, now is it?"

"It is!" Clarke shot at him, fed up with his sarcastic comments. "If this is the reward I get for saving your life, I might refrain from doing so next time."

"You don't mean that." Bellamy stated as though he knew exactly what Clarke would and wouldn't do. "And besides there won't be a next time. I hardly need someone to save me, let alone a women."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Clarke growled, unimpressed. The asshole side of Bellamy was starting to show.

"Exactly what I said." He replied as if it were just that simple, not realising how much his comment angered Clarke.

Clarke abruptly got out of the bed, wobbling about for a few seconds but steadying herself before Bellamy got the chance. "I'll have you know," Clarke spoke dangerously low, moving closer to Bellamy with every word until they were chest to chest, "I am more capable than each and every one of your knights that you deem the best of the best. If me, a _women_ , can beat even your best, what exactly does that say about _you_?"

"And what gave you this idea that you could best my knights in a fight?" Bellamy looked down at the girl who questioned his stature, not even for a minute caring that he was a prince. He liked that about her. She challenged him. And what could he say, he found himself lost in her.

"Just a hunch." It was Clarke's turn to smirk. "Plus, I've seen them fight. They're nothing special."

"And you are?"

"Now you're getting it!" 

"Then if you are really as great as you say, you wouldn't mind proving it?" Bellamy challenged, curious to see if Clarke could really fight.

Raising her eyebrow at him, Clarke replied, "Is that a challenge?" 

"That's exactly what it is." Bellamy smiled.

"I would watch out if I were you, sire."

"Tomorrow morning then?" He wouldn't leave any time for Clarke to back out.

Clarke laughed, "Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Thinking their exchange was over, Clarke began to make her way out of the prince's chambers before Bellamy's voice stopped her. "And Clarke?"

"Yes?" Clarke turned to face Bellamy once again.

"Thank you." Bellamy said sincerely. Clarke's confusion must have shown because Bellamy spoke again. "For saving me. Despite what I may have said, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here. So, thank you."

If Clarke said she wasn't surprised she would be lying. Bellamy, the prince of Arkadia, was thanking _her_? "Don't mention it." Clarke smiled. Bellamy saw this and couldn't help but smile back. 

The two stayed in the moment for a few seconds more before Clarke broke them out of it. "Besides, I had to earn a job somehow. I figured why not kill two birds with one stone." She joked, eliciting a true laugh from Bellamy.

"I'm sure that's exactly what went through your mind in the few seconds before you decided to jump in front of a dagger to save me." Bellamy's eyes wrinkled as he laughed. Clarke found the sight beautiful. She hoped she'd see it more often. "That reminds me, though. I need my armour cleaned, sword sharpened and my chambers spotless by the afternoon."

Clarke groaned, instantly regretting not making a run for it when she could. And with that, being Prince Bellamy's maidservant began. Whether that would be a good or a bad thing, Clarke had no idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, leave a comment telling me what you liked or didn't like. It's always nice to receive feedback :)


End file.
